Calvin, Hope basketball stars earn D3hoops.com honors

View full sizeCory Olsen | MLive.comCalvin College's Carissa Verkaik, right, was named D3hoops.com Great Lakes Region Player of the Year.

Carissa Verkaik has been impressing coaches and fans on the basketball court for three seasons at Calvin College and has added more accolades to her career after she was announced as the D3hoops.com Great Lakes Region Player of the Year for the second year in a row.

The Hope College men's basketball team also received awards with guard David Krombeen and Nate Snuggerud being named to the D3hoops.com Men's All-Great Lakes Region Team and coach Matt Neil named Coach of the Year as well.

Hope men's coach Matt Neil

Verkaik, a Holland Christian High School grad, was also named to the D3hoops.com Great Lakes All-Region first team for the third straight year. She averaged 19.2 points and 8.8 rebounds a game for the Knights.

She also blocked 128 shots, establishing a new Calvin single-season record. She tallied 13 double-doubles and connected 56.8 percent of her field goal attempts, 86 percent of her free throw attempts and 40.5 percent of her three-point attempts. She was also named the MIAA’s Most Valuable Player for the third straight year.

Hope's Krombeen, a graduate of Grandville High School, averaged 14.8 points per game while Snuggerud, a graduate of Zeeland East High School averaged 17.8 points per game.